Shoppers rush to beat the rush

By STAFF REPORTERS

Bundled inside a shopping trolley at Glenfield Mall are the final few presents Margaret Edmonds needs to buy for Christmas.

The Glen Eden resident has been to Lynfield Mall, Glenfield Mall and others since October to beat the rush, the crowds, the lack of carparks.

"I usually try to get it all finished by the beginning of December," she told the Herald yesterday.

"Otherwise, there is no selection ... and the parking is a nightmare."

Despite the heat this weekend, shoppers hit the country's malls in their tens of thousands as the Christmas shopping period began.

Farmers began putting Christmas shopping goods in stores earlier this year to meet the demand for the early shoppers.

Farmers chief executive Nick Lowe said trading was now spread over a longer period, which was good for retailers.

Bookseller Dymocks general manager Paul Sunde had noticed more foot traffic, earlier, but less spending.

The New Zealand Retailers Association is cautiously optimistic that this holiday season will be a good one.

New Zealanders have spent well over $4 billion in recent Christmases. In the first two weeks of December last year, New Zealanders spent $1.24 billion through electronic payments. No figures are yet available for 2003.

Association spokesman Barry Hellberg said the high New Zealand dollar meant there were good bargains around for imported items such as bicycles and videos.

Mr Hellberg said the Reserve Bank holding off from raising interest rates was "good news" for customers and retailers.

But the good news for retailers could be bad news for the emotional and physical wellbeing of shoppers.

A study for British online retailer Amazon.co.uk monitored the heart rate and blood pressure of two shoppers - a male and female - during an afternoon of gift-buying. The average number of heartbeats per minute increased by about 10 per cent in both subjects at the mere sight of a checkout queue, and the woman's blood pressure rose by more than 13 per cent at the height of the day's shopping.

One shopper at Glenfield Mall yesterday recalled a Christmas past when a man got out of his car at a Shore City carpark and abused her when she was stopped in her vehicle waiting for someone to pull out.

Fed up, she had vowed to get organised early this year.

Dina Turner, customer liaison officer for Bay of Plenty's largest shopping mall, Bayfair, agreed that more people seemed determined not to be in the malls at the last minute.

Quite a few said they had finished their Christmas shopping.

In Hamilton, shoppers Joy Josephs and her daughter Lisa, from Cambridge, were determined to get most of their shopping finished yesterday.

"We've done pretty well today, we got most of it done," said Mrs Josephs.

Faye Taylor, the director of Nanric Road Fine Foods, was busy setting up a stall in the Centre Place mall.

Ms Taylor said the Auckland stall was already busy, but the Christmas rush had yet to hit Hamilton and Christchurch.

She is preparing for an onslaught of shoppers about 10 days before Christmas.

By then Ms Edmonds and others will have their presents tucked carefully under the tree.

The big spend-up

We spent a collective $1.24 billion through electronic payments in the first two weeks of December last year.

That was 10 per cent more than for 2001.

During December 2001, we spent $4.8 billion all up.